From the desk of My Collaborative Team President, Edward S. Sachs, CPA
Practice Groups and individual practitioners are always looking for ways to spread the word of the Collaborative Process. One of the best avenues available to practitioners is right in the own firm. Especially if your firm provides diversified services, no matter which profession you practice.
Ask yourself, does my firm have large corporate clients? Do any of my clients own or serve in top management of a large company? Do any of my clients work in human resources or are members of a labor union? Are they upper management in government, public schools, police, or fire?
If so, then you have an avenue for promoting the Collaborative Process. Big corporations, big government agencies and businesses of all size should be concerned about their employee’s well-being. And divorce can have a direct impact on these workplaces.
Studies reveal that productivity and overall company morale can decrease as workers deal with the effects of divorce.
On a classic rating scale of stressful life events, divorce consistently ranks No. 2 – second only to the death of a spouse. The employee’s financial worries, time away from work, and emotional stress while on the job will naturally affect their productivity, even for those workers whose jobs are their emotional haven.
Researchers estimate that every ten divorcing employees cost a company more than $83,000 a year in lost productivity. This assumes a drop in worker performance of between 50% to 75% as well as time off spent dealing with legal, financial, and psychological issues related to divorce. It also includes an estimated loss of supervisor productivity as a result of time spent dealing with issues of performance and productivity for employees affected by divorce.
(Source Note: “The Cost of Divorce to Employers”, by Guest Columnist Rosemary Frank, Nashville Business Journal. Based on an average wage of $19.50/hr)
Loss of productivity and decreased performance are easier to measure than other more complex problems that divorce can present for employers. Company morale is important and can suffer when a considerable number of workers are in a state of personal crisis and/or sharing their problems with others. The sense of being alone and unsupported is one of the major side effects of the divorce process. For many employees, the workplace community feels like a natural source of help in dealing with feelings of isolation and victimization.
To make more cases, practice groups and individual practitioners should target these opportunities. They provide a chance to educate captive audiences on the advantages of utilizing the Collaborative Process in divorce. And for the employer, it is an opportunity to provide a choice to their employees that will benefit everyone.
What could be better for business!
